Majinka
by Arukoir
Summary: The world of demons is always connected to that of humans. As a young boy, Tsukune learns this the hard way and it impacts the rest of his life. This is now dead.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I'm trying something that's a bit new to me. This story will be in third person but from Tsukune's point of view. So far, I like how this type of third person is working. I'll probably do it for all of my stories from now on.

With that, I will allow the story to be presented. Please review this.

000

"Can you help me young man?"

A middle aged woman called out to the boy, her breath failing to warm the winter air. She wore a heavy coat over a kimono and bore a cloth bundle in her arms. She stood in the park that was next to the grocery store, the snow around her seemed to form small circles.

Aono Tsukune was going on his first errand and he knew that he shouldn't talk to strangers. But Kaa-san and Tou-san told him to help people whenever he could. After deliberating with himself over whether or not to acknowledge the woman, he finally turned to her.

"Ba-san, what is it?"

"I need you to hold my baby while I get food for her at the store."

"U-um, okay."

She smiled her thanks and walked up to him, handing him the bundled infant. Tsukune took the child, careful not to drop it. He took a closer look at the baby's small face and saw nothing. Tsukune didn't really understand what was going on, but the child's face seemed to blur. At the edge of his vision, he saw the woman leave the park and enter the grocery store.

"Wah!" Tsukune dropped to his knees. The baby had suddenly gotten heavier! He knew that there was something wrong, but you shouldn't just drop babies. He already knew that he couldn't do that. Kaa-san and Tou-san had said that you needed to be gentle. The baby became even heavier.

"Nn!" The small boy fell onto his back, still supporting the infant. It was still getting heavier. Tsukune could feel it getting harder to breathe as he lay down in the snow. Everything started getting dark…

000

"Oh, thank you young man. I hope that she wasn't too much trouble." The woman returned, this time with a plastic bag that Tsukune assumed held the food that she'd said she'd get. She stood over him for a few moments, her shadow blocking the sun. Then, she smiled, apparently satisfied with her child's safety. She bent down and picked up the bundle. "I'll give you a reward for being so helpful."

The mother closed her eyes and reached into her _eri_. She pulled out something that Tsukune couldn't see. It was like she was playing pretend like he did with Kyouko. She pressed it against his chest and Tsukune felt something sharp dig into his skin through his clothes. He gasped quietly; the pain was too much for him. After a long moment of this pain, the object, whatever it was, sank into his chest.

Tsukune jackknifed and his vision went blank.

000

"Tsukune!"

Tsukune could hear a pair of familiar voices. He opened his blurry eyes and saw two people looking down at him. "O-okaa-san?"

The figures swam into clarity. His limp body was pulled into a tight hug.

"Tsukune, you're okay!"

They were crying. His entire body hurt, but Tou-san and Ka-san were here. Everything was going to be okay.

Tsukune's eyes widened. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't get what you told me to buy."

They cried harder.

000

Ever since that day, everything was too warm. He spent almost all of his time playing in the snow. It felt better than staying inside, where it wasn't cold enough. More than that, Tsukune had gotten a change in pigmentation. It wasn't much, but his brown eyes had become more of a sherry color. Tsukune also felt a constant comforting coolness deep in his chest, keeping him comfortable for the most part.

000

Tsukune woke, his head pounding with a hangover feeling that he was too young to have experienced. His hands were sticky. He looked down at them. Tsukune's mind stopped working. They bore deep red splotches. Was it blood? He sniffed at the marks. It was. Tsukune didn't remember getting cut. He remembered that Kaa-san and Tou-san told him to wash his cuts so that they wouldn't get infected. He ran to the bathroom.

On his way to the bathroom, Tsukune ran into Kaa-san, who had a lot of band-aids on her fingers and a bandage on her forearm.

"Oh, Tsukune how are you this morning?"

He looked up at her. "Kaa-san, my head hurts."

She wrapped him up in a hug. "Tsukune, I love you."

"K-Kaa-san?"

She gave a strained smile. "There's someone downstairs that wants to see you."

Tsukune slowly went down the stairs, his head still pounding. He saw the woman from three months ago sitting at the table quietly talking with his father. Before he knew what he was doing, he was standing right at the side of the table. He couldn't help but stare at the woman. At every other blink he could see whirling snow.

The woman reached out and patted him on the head. "It's nice to see you again young man."

Tsukune's headache vanished as soon as she touched him. Her skin was so cool and soft. It felt so nice… "Mmm…" Unthinkingly, he pushed his head against her hand, closing his eyes.

The woman murmured in a gently admonishing tone. "Caution, little one."

Tou-san looked at her in shock. "W-wha?"

The woman smiled at him. "This is what I meant when I told you about the two of us. Your son passed my test, so I made him my own."

Tsukune wrapped his arms around her.

"You, you can't just steal someone's son!"

The woman was still smiling. "And yet you cannot care for him on full moon nights like the one that you just experienced. After all, you and your wife bear wounds inflicted by-"

"I-I see your point." He was close to tears at the thought of losing his son.

Surprised, the woman was quick to continue the conversation. "I would not be so cruel as to steal your child. I was thinking that we could share him." She gently rubbed Tsukune's back.

"Share?"

She smiled again. "Yes. I will have your son for two days of every week. This will include every full moon."

Tsukune looked up into the woman's eyes. "Two days a week?" he asked.

She gently wrapped her arms around him and Tsukune snuggled into her embrace. "Yes. Because I gave you a gift, I need to make sure that you don't misuse it."

She turned her head from Tsukune to look at Tou-san. "You can raise Tsukune in any way that you wish, but regarding his new de-"

He panicked and interrupted. "Yes. I understand. But as I was asking, how can we believe you when you make that claim?"

She seemed to get colder and Tsukune looked back up at the woman. Her eyes had turned red and her hair turned a deep blue. Her skin turned a little bluer as well. Tsukune hugged her closer as snow started to spiral around her.

Tou-san jerked back and fell out of his chair. "Ahh! Y-you…"

Kaa-san walked in, frowning at the other woman. "Well, I suppose that we don't have much choice do we, Kouji?"

Tou-san looked down, clenching his teeth. "But Kasumi, we can't-"

"Tsukune obviously likes her and we can't take care of him on those full moon nights if they're like the previous one. What else can we do? It's obvious that she is telling the truth."

He looked back down. "…I hate this."

The icy woman smiled. "I think that we've come to an accord." She gently stroked Tsukune's hair.

She cocked her head to the side. "I won't take our son today. I'll come later in the week. Do not allow harm to come to him." With that, the snow whipped into a small blizzard and the woman disappeared. Tsukune missed her as soon as she was gone. Everything was just a little too warm, but she was so nice and cold that he couldn't help but like her. On top of that, his headache was gone.

000

"Hello, again child." The woman appeared in Tsukune's room in a swirl of snow. She bent down and hugged him. "I'm here to take you away for a while."

Tsukune couldn't help but hug her back. "Oba-san, I was curious… What should I call you?"

She smiled. "Haha-ue."

"H-haha-ue? But you-"

She hushed him. "I've claimed you. You are my child. I will watch over you, so it is alright to depend on me."

Tsukune nodded.

Haha-ue took his hand. "We shall go for the next two days." Her hand was soft and cool. Even though her hair was now brown and her skin redder, she still felt nice.

She took him to a park. It was the park where they'd first met. "The most important thing for you is to understand what is occurring around you. In the air and water, in every creature, there is energy. Because of this energy, I am here and you are healthy."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled. "I will give you an example." She bent down and picked up a blade of grass. It was slowly coated in frost before freezing solid. "You and I can do this because of the energy that is all around us." She melted the ice and handed Tsukune the grass. "You try."

Tsukune nodded. He held the blade between two fingers and focused. Nothing happened. "I-I'm sorry."

"It's alright little one. Close your eyes."

Tsukune did as he was told.

"Now," Tsukune felt a touch at the center of his chest. "Use my gift to you to find the energy surrounding us."

The young boy focused on the coolness in his chest. He felt the coolness expand before sliding along his body until it filled him. The air felt strange. Tsukune's eyes slid open and he looked around in amazement. He could clearly see his new mother's other form, whirling snow and all. He also saw different strange looking people and animals walking around, having different conversations.

"Haha-ue, who are they?"

"Oh? Those people are like us."

"Like us?" Tsukune cocked his head to the side.

"They are demons."

Tsukune didn't notice the blade of grass's change between his fingers.

000

Demons. Not human. Monsters.

"D-demons?"

Haha-ue smiled. "Yes."

"B-but…"

"Don't worry." She kept smiling. "You'll understand what this really means when you're older."

000

Tsukune had just started junior high. His cousin Kyouko was visiting once again. Due to this, they'd spent their time visiting different stores in the city. The two cousins took a train back home in the afternoon. Of course, the train was packed with people, to the point that the two could barely move. As fast as the train was, the trip was long. By the time the relatives had returned home, there was no one on the train. Suddenly, the train's lights went out. Kyouko and Tsukune huddled together in the darkness. A pale, glowing ball appeared and bobbed in front of the pair before shooting around. It pierced everyone in the cabin except for Tsukune and Kyouko.

"I smell it… I smell a Demon Tamer!" The ball took shape and became the front half of a tiger with one floating claw. It crackled with electricity. The creature rushed at Kyouko.

Tsukune could still remember what his other mother had told him. _From the view of demons, humanity is fragile, so you must always be careful around humans that you don't want to hurt. It is like carrying tissue paper with wet hands at times._

Desperately, Tsukune pulled his cousin out of the way of the monster and ran for another car, cousin in tow.

The creature chased after them and blew through the doors. The next car had a few young men on it, laughing boisterously. The cousins tore through to the next car. They heard screams and splattering.

Kyouko's eyes were wide in shock and fear. She turned back around at the sounds from the car behind them. "Tsu-Tsukki, what's goi-" She screamed silently after stopping abruptly, her throat constricting. Tsukune followed her gaze. One of the boys in the previous car had made it to the door and pressed his hand against it, eyes pleading. Then the door splattered with blood, obscuring the carnage within. The door then blew open, the blood soaked creature rushing at them. Tsukune stood in front of his cousin and pulled on the ice in his chest. It spread through his body and the boy could feel the difference. He could feel the massive amount of energy that had been released in the previous car. He was panicky, but he seemed to draw in energy from the surrounding air of the train, though it felt different from in the park; it was… fuzzier.

Tsukune did the only thing that he could think of and punched at the creature as it approached.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: My thanks to Lsughing Man, Enigmatic Magus, Wolfpackersson09 for being the first people to review the first chapter. Please continue to review and let me know what you think, whether I've screwed up, or anything else that comes to mind. Oh, and in response to the question about what type of demon Tsukune turned into, I felt like going for something more like Jimenez in Strange Journey or Chaos Hero in Shin Megami Tensei, though there will be some differences.

000

The boy's fist impacted with the creature's head, pushing it back.

It came to a stop a few meters away and hovered, making the air buzz angrily as it spoke. "She already summoned something? The Tamer must be weak if her best demon is only you." The air's buzzing increased in intensity, making the hairs on Tsukune's body stand on end.

Tsukune heard-no, he felt the word, **Zionga,** before electricity danced about the demon(At this point, Tsukune was definitely sure that the creature that had suddenly appeared was in fact a demon … like himself) and a bolt of lightning struck him, sending him flying to the door on the other side of the train car. The metal bent at the force before Tsukune fell off of it.

He was surprised that being struck by lightning didn't hurt him all that much. More than that, he noticed that Kyou-chan was unprotected in front of the monster. He sprinted toward the creature. Kyou-chan was like a sister to him, and if she was hurt….

Tsukune pulled on the energy that he felt all around him, especially that which was emanating from the previous car. Frost gathered around him, making the floor of the train reflect the crackling body of the lightning demon. Beyond his control, concepts slipped into Tsukune's mind. They were incredibly familiar, reminding him of Haha-ue, almost as if he could see her in his mind. The one that stuck in his mind the most was **Bufu**.

Ice sprung up from the floor of the train, piercing the demon. It writhed, its wolf-like muzzle contorting in pain as electricity began to flow around it again. Tsukune could feel the energy gathering and he panicked.

**Bufu.**

More spikes of ice rose into the demon.

**Bufu.**

The demon writhed as it began to be torn apart.

**Bufu.**

The electric demon screamed and then went still.

Tsukune dropped to his knees unconsciously entering seiza, his body warming back up. "Kyouko-chan, are you alright?" He didn't hear a response. Tsukune forced his body to turn to look at her, only to see Haha-ue sitting on a seat of the train, resting the girl, who was now sleeping, on her lap.

"Good evening little one," She smiled. "Well done."

"Haha-ue?"

Haha-ue's crimson eyes looked on him kindly. "Did it feel good to let the energy flow through you? You probably feel empty now, but this is only a fraction of your future power."

"How do you know?"

The demon woman cocked her head to the side before smiling. "It would be best to use a metaphor for this explanation. Think of a flower in bloom. It lets out its pollen and new flowers grow. You are that pollen. You've not yet finished growing into the full form from which you were begotten. I, of course, am the flower that you came from. At the very least, you will grow to have my original power."

Tsukune felt overheated but continued with the conversation. "But, why did you even give me this… this power in the first place?"

With an amused smile, the boy's second mother responded. "I wonder why you ask me that question so late in our relationship. More than that, why aren't you concerned about your 'Kyou-chan'?"

Tsukune gasped. How could he have forgotten? "Is she alright?"

"After the trauma of this event, she'll probably forget everything about today. You should be careful not to jog any memories of this in the future."

With that, the demon woman handed the girl to her son and opened a train door. She looked back at her son, her gentle smile seeming to glow in the moonlight, before stepping off of the moving train.

000

Tsukune yawned, staring at the board as his math teacher droned on. He never understood why math was a necessary class. All they did was ask questions with obvious answers. He did his best to not act bored so as to not hurt anyone's feelings. Everything was like simple counting. It was a waste of time.

The teacher, a man who dressed in a suit and was fairly nondescript, called on the boy. "Aono. Since you're so _clearly_ paying attention, solve the problem on the board." The man then hastily wrote a problem on the board.

Tsukune glanced up for the first time since he entered the class. The board said: (49 +19x2 -35x -3)/14 = 9.

"You mean tell you what x is, right?"

The teacher seemed to get more irritated. "_Yes._"

Tsukune sighed and then shrugged. "Okay, x is (1/38)(35 – 29*(17)^(1/2) ) or (1/38)(35 + 29*(17)^(1/2) )." He went back to ignoring the class.

Out of the corner of his eye, the teacher looked as if he was going to choke and reddened.

000

Tsukune sat next to his parents as a representative from his school visited his home.

"Well, Tsukune-kun is a very bright child, but he needs to learn to show the teachers more respect."

Kaa-san frowned at him, her eyes closed as usual. "Tsukune, have you been disrespectful?"

"I don't think so." Tsukune leaned his head back. "I don't like the math teacher though, he's boring. All we do is sit there and read what's on the board."

The representative looked at him oddly. "I've sat in on those classes before, and they are definitely doing algebra."

Kaa-san turned to Tou-san. "This could be because of that woman, Kouji."

Tou-san frowned in thought before turning to the representative. "Well, have there been problems in any of Tsukune's other classes?"

The representative shook her head and said, "He's slightly below average for our school, but in mathematics, he's doing the best out of all of the students. However, he doesn't fit in with them."

Tou-san looked a bit proud. "Well, Tsukune," He turned to Tsukune. "You'll need to study harder for your other classes, but good job in math." Tou-san frowned. "Why don't you get along with the other students?"

The boy nodded. "Thank you, Tou-san." He averted his gaze. "They… they're all just so …" The demon boy murmured his complete response.

Kaa-san leaned in. "What's wrong with them?"

"They're so fragile. I don't want to hurt them, like what happened with Kyou-chan." Tsukune shivered. He could still clearly remember the absolute terror in Kyou-chan's face. He then frowned as he remembered the demon that he'd killed, how good it felt to let loose against it. It was like releasing a sort of tension that he didn't know was building up.

Kaa-san leaned away and raised her voice. "That being said, please be more careful with being respectful."

She turned to the school's representative. "We'll work with Tsukune on this."

The woman nodded and, seeing that there wasn't much else that she could do, took her leave. Kaa-san and Tou-san let out sighs of relief before Tou-san looked at the calendar. After Tsukune's change, the Aono family adopted the Chinese calendar to keep track of the full moon's arrival.

"Oh… The full moon is coming up next week…"

Kaa-san frowned. "Tsukune, did that woman finally teach you how to restrain yourself during the full moon?"

Tsukune nodded. "Yes, Kaa-san, but I'm not good at it yet."

Kaa-san looked thoughtful but didn't say anything.

000

It was surprising, the speed with which the full moon arrived. Haha-ue had picked Tsukune up and taken him for a walk through their park. She, as usual, was wearing a kimono, though she left out the winter coat that she normally wore. "So, little one, remember this: you need to push down on the extra power granted by the full moon using your own power."

"Y-yes." As he tried to follow her orders and shook, the area around the boy randomly iced over and thawed.

Haha-ue gently brushed his hair and smiled. She then continued speaking softly. "This is the most important skill for you to have. No matter where you are, if you aren't powerful enough, you will be in the territory of another demon. Most dislike having others causing chaos that they don't want. When the demon's territory is a human city, they generally do not want to draw the ire of humanity or the demons that support it."

Tsukune nodded. Though he was curious…"What's ire?"

"Irritation or anger."

Haha-ue then moved on to a different topic. "Also, I've decided to teach you how to fight. It would be dangerous for you to have a fight like your previous one only to run out of energy and die."

Again, the boy nodded, his body still trembling from using his powers in such a way.

"It will take a while, so I will have you for a week."

000

The next day, Tsukune woke without his usual headache, a sign of getting better at resisting the moon, and Haha-ue was sitting right in front of him. Tsukune turned about to view his surroundings. It looked to be a hotel room. The only real difference from a normal hotel was the lack of any real luxuries; there were only two things, the bed and the bathroom.

Haha-ue smiled at him. "Good morning, child. Now, as I told you earlier, I will teach you how to fight. Copy my movements." She slowly went through a chain of punches and blocks. She turned her hips and thus her body's force of motion into each block and punch. "This is the Sanchin, the basic form for karate. Practice it every day."

Tsukune copied her movements carefully. "Like this?"

The demoness shook her head. "Make the motions tighter."

"Tighter?"

"Stop pausing to think about it."

"Yes." He tried to go through the form without stopping.

Haha-ue got out of her stance and sighed. "Alright. You will practice until lunch."

"Haha-ue, why are you teaching me karate?"

She gave Tsukune a smile. "That is because it is traditional, of course."

"Traditional?"

"It is only proper for you to use a Japanese martial art. It is easiest to use barehanded combat without causing chaos in public and judo and the like have little effect on other demons. It would be best, then for you to learn the most useful art for your situation. Well, aside from those reasons, I happen to like karate." At the end of her small speech, Haha-ue seemed a little embarrassed as her sight seemed to focus on something in the distance.

Tsukune didn't know why, but he also felt a bit awkward about the slight shift in subject. He continued to block and punch.

Haha-ue suddenly focused on him and spoke. "And while we are discussing tradition, I've set up an omiai for you."

Tsukune rotated his hips a little too much into a punch and stumbled awkwardly before falling onto his face. "W-what?"


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to Wolfpackersson09 for showing interest in the plot and the coming events as well as for the compliments. Gracias a jhonatan arisato para tus ideas y apoyo.

Tsukune stared out of the train's window as the vehicle rushed toward the country. He didn't know how to deal with other children besides Kyou-chan. Suddenly meeting not only a new child, but a _girl,_ made him unimaginably nervous. The demon boy looked over at his second mother. She was smiling lightly, her eyes closed. Maybe she was thinking of something happy?

"Haha-ue?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you set up an omiai? It wasn't just because of tradition, right?"

"That is correct. This omiai, should it succeed, will have benefits for the both of us."

Tsukune felt like he shouldn't ask further, but his curiosity overcame it. "What benefits?"

Haha-ue's smile didn't change, but there was a strange feeling behind it. "That is for the adults involved."

Tsukune felt apprehensive about continuing and gave up on any further questions or whining. Instead, the boy changed topics. "Haha-ue, how do I speak with a girl?"

"You need to be kind, but not too much so."

Tsukune frowned. Ever since they had gotten on the train, she'd been more cryptic that usual. "How do I be kind if I can't be too kind?"

Haha-ue had a thoughtful face before giving him a different answer. "Just act naturally. I have confidence in how we've raised you so far." She gave him a smile.

Tsukune flushed at the praise. It wasn't something that he heard often. "Thank you." He shyly murmured.

The train went through a tunnel and there was a feeling of everything bending and twisting as bright light flashed. Suddenly, the train was surrounded by a blizzard, but kept hurtling along toward their destination

* * *

><p>The train finally slowed at the foot of a mountain range and hissed as it finally came to a stop.<p>

Haha-ue looked at Tsukune and, patting him on the head, told him, "From now on, while you are here, you must stay in your true form."

Tsukune was confused. "But I am in my true form."

The demoness shook her head. "No, child. I have said before that you are a demon. That is your true form. This human shape is a mask. You need to be recognizable as inhuman or the demon that controls this territory will possibly kill you or something worse."

Tsukune gulped and pulled on the ice in his chest, feeling the icy feeling spread through his body. The air tingled for a moment before he refocused on the woman in front of him.

She handed him a kimono that bore muted colors. "Wear this."

Tsukune attempted to put on all of the parts, but eventually Haha-ue assisted him in a blur of motion and confusedly, Tsukune found himself wearing the kimono. He never knew that kimono could be so complicated.

She smiled. "Good. Now let us depart."

The two of them began climbing the mountain before them. The higher they climbed, the thicker the snowfall got, befor it became a blizzard. Initially, Tsukune was unable to see right in front of his face, but Haha-ue waved a hand and the area around them was instead filled with a gentle snowfall as her aura protected them. Along the way, the two passed a river, where the water rushed downhill, roaring loudly. Tsukune stiffened as he felt something across it. He turned his head and tried to see if there was anything past the river.

A hand tapped his shoulder and Haha-ue spoke to him. "It is good to see that you noticed it. I will bring you across the river later, when you have a use for what is across it."

Tsukune smiled and nodded, and with that, the two continued on their journey.

* * *

><p>At length, the mother son pair arrived at a snowy plain near the mountain's top. Here, Haha-ue held out her hand palm forward, and quietly spoke. "Open."<p>

The air shimmered and Tsukune felt the space around them twist and bend again. A town that was both a city and felt like a village blurred into view. Everything was icy. Tsukune felt a deeper cold in the city, and it felt comforting. Naturally, it was snowing in the village, though it wasn't as intense as the surrounding blizzard.

Haha-ue grabbed his hand. "Come, we will meet with the owner of this territory."

She pulled him along, the pair passing the inhabitants, almost all of whom were women and girls, who looked at him oddly. Keeping quiet, they went into a large icy spire, a shrine. The first thing that caught Tsukune's attention was that there were sharp needles of ice sticking up from the floor. The shrine had a throne on which a woman sat and the floor was so reflective that he could see his own face clearly in it.

Haha-ue smiled at the woman on the throne. "Hello, how are you doing?"

The woman on the throne slowly spoke. "Good day. Is there a particular reason for which you desire to speak with me?"

Haha-ue then smiled differently. It felt more insulting. "I apologize. I came to speak with Great Jack Frost, not karakuri ningyou."

Snow and ice shot from the woman's body and spun into a bunny eared shape with fangs and foreboding eyes. "Your tongue is as harsh as ever, Mad Researcher. You came about our bet, then?"

"Of course. I will debunk your claims of truly seeing the future."

The icy shape, Jack Frost, grinned. "Alright then, we will use the method that we previously agreed to."

Haha-ue's eyes crinkled. "Of course. You would only agree to odds that you would benefit from either way. Of course, if you lose the bet, then your territory-"

"-Will be aligned with yours. There is no need to repeat it. Or are you getting senile, Mad Researcher?"

The two demons smiled before a harsh snowy wind blew through the shrine, their auras clashing violently.

As one, they turned to Tsukune. The demon made of ice and snow spoke first. "Boy. You will be engaged to the first young lady that you talk to in the Land of Yuki-Onna."

As any boy would be, Tsukune was baffled. "Huh? But for an omiai, shouldn't we get to know each other while the parents decide if it's a good match?"

Haha-ue spoke gently. "That is why it is alright. You're not barren, so there won't be any objections from the family of just about any girl here. I will not object because it is part of the deal with Great Jack Frost. There will not be an objection from either party."

At the mention of his ability to have children, Tsukune felt a bit uncomfortable. The explanation behind the whole statement bothered him a bit, though he couldn't see the problem.

Great Jack Frost stared at the two other demons expectantly. "Alright. Let's start our game. Mad Researcher, I'd wish you good luck, but I want to win."

Haha-ue smiled. "Young one, I have already expressed my confidence in you. Just act as you would naturally."

Tsukune nodded and then the two older demons dismissed him.

* * *

><p>Tsukune walked to the outskirts of the city, enjoying the gentle snowfall.<p>

He saw a boy and girl about his age. The boy yelled something before running off, away from the city. The girl dropped to her knees, crying. Before he could think carefully about the consequences of what he was about to do, he ran to her. "Are you okay?"

The girl, who was wearing a short kimono, sniffled. "I-I'm fine."

Tsukune looked at the distant retreating back of the other boy. "It looked like the two of you were arguing. Would you like me to go get him?"

"N-no…" She was still crying.

"Please tell me. What's wrong?"

"Yuki-onna don't eat humans…" Her crying slowed down. "He thought…"

Tsukune smiled comfortingly. He looked at her clearly and the first thing that caught his attention was her purple hair, a shade of hair that he'd never seen before. "Please don't cry, if we just go and explain it to him, that boy will probably understand."

The girl hiccupped slightly before nodding.

Tsukune smiled at her again, trying to make sure that she'd feel better, even if the only thing that he could do was smiling. He took the girl's hand and together they chased after the other boy. The snow on the ground was thick enough that the boy seemed to have difficulty moving as he got into the areas of heavier snowfall. Tsukune called out to him. "Excuse me!"

The boy looked at them before his eyes widened in fear. He turned and started to run. Letting go of the girl's hand, Tsukune leapt after him, tackling him to the ground. "At least hear her out!" he shouted.

"Who're you?" The boy shouted desperately. He squirmed to escape from the demon boy.

Tsukune held tightly and spoke over the other boy. "Please, you two need to least-"

The girl grasped his arm. "It's fine…"

"W-what do you mean? We actually caught up to-"

She shook her head and pointed. "Look. He's so scared."

Tsukune followed the girl's finger. The boy was leaking frightened tears onto his own face. He leapt off of other boy. This was just like those boys on the train. Tsukune could still remember the last one that had clutched at the cabin door, begging for help before finally dying. He was a demon just like that other creature, so he could easily end up doing the same thing, couldn't he? Tsukune took a deep breath even though his hands were shaking.

The girl held out her hand to the other boy and asked, "Are you alright?"

He screamed and crawled away from her as quickly as he could. He scrambled to his feet and ran off as quickly as he could. Tsukune looked at his feet before speaking to the girl. "I'm sorry about that. I couldn't help you."

"Well-"

There was a heavy swirl of snow and the demon boy's mother appeared along with Great Jack Frost. "Well then, it's decided. This girl is your future partner."

"Wait, what?" Tsukune and the girl stared at each other, shocked.

"Don't tell me that you have forgotten," his mother chided, "we told you about it only a little while ago."

Tsukune's eyes widened. He actually forgot! How could he be so careless? "W-wait! That's not fair to her," he pointed at the young girl beside him, "she's still with that boy, so there's-"

His mother calmly interrupted him. "The terms were already agreed upon. The two of you already get along fairly well, do you not? Young lady, you have no objections, yes?"

She looked like she was about to say that she did, but the air suddenly thickened the second that she opened her mouth. She shut it. Then she nodded.

Haha-ue then turned to Tsukune. "I hope you have introduced yourself to your future wife."

Tsukune froze. He seemed to be forgetting a lot of things recently. He turned to the girl, making sure to speak as properly as possible, since his mother was right in front of them. "I am Tsukune," He wrote it in the snow in katakana, the kanji were a little too…feminine for his liking. "What's your name?"

The girl wrote the kanji for sleet into the snow. "I'm Mizore."

At the same time, they spoke. "Douzo Yorishiku(It is nice to meet you)."

It was about now that Tsukune really looked at the girl, and he had to admit, she was kind of …cute.

* * *

><p>"Well, child, how was the omiai?" The mother son duo was making their way back down from the mountain after the result of the omiai was confirmed. Haha-ue still hadn't let Tsukune change from his true form, saying that Great Jack Frost would clearly notice if he did so.<p>

"I had no idea that it could be like that."

A sudden growl caught their attention. An old wolf was trembling in front of them from the other side of the river that they'd passed on their way to the snowy village where the Yuki-onna lived. It was attempting to stand up and face them, but one of its front legs wouldn't cooperate. Tsukune paid closer attention and saw that the animal only had one eye. It was losing fur in places and some of its teeth were missing. All the same, it growled and threatened the two.

Haha-ue smiled as if amused. "Little one, go ahead and pet it."

"But Haha-ue, that wolf is obviously-"

She hushed him and said. "This is an important thing for every demon to learn."

The demon boy nodded and jumped across the river, landing next to the wolf. It tried to lunge before it fell and began struggling to its feet. Tsukune sat next to it and pulled the wolf onto his lap before petting it.

The wolf bit his hand. Hard.

Tsukune still felt bad about the wolf's condition. It looked like it was in so much pain that he couldn't help but ignore his own, though it did help that it didn't hurt him all that much. Using his other hand, Tsukune pet the wolf as it chewed on his hand. The wolf was so weak that he didn't want to hurt it further.

* * *

><p>After a long time that felt like a whole hour, the wolf's jaws weakened. Slowly, the light faded from the creature's eyes and it went limp. Tsukune frowned before gently starting to pull his hand from the wolf's mouth.<p>

Suddenly, he felt a small trickle of energy come from the wolf. There was a flash, and then there was a small man with crow's wings hovering above the boy and the corpse. It was wearing yamabushi robes, white separated sleeves, and a white mask with a long nose and no eye holes.

"Ahhgg! That was so painful. Looks like you're not such a bad guy, kid."

Tsukune stared, speechless.

"Tell you what, since you helped me die peacefully by lending me your strength, I'll lend you mine in return." There was a noise like a sword being drawn in his head and Tsukune felt a _click_.

Suddenly, Tsukune felt Haha-ue standing behind him. "Well done, you now have a fellow demon as your ally. What you just witnessed with that wolf was the birth of a demon." She turned to the winged man. "Koppa Tengu, what is your name?"

He shook his head. "_You_ aren't my ally, woman."

Tsukune looked between the two before sighing. The newly born demon was actually standing up to Haha-ue, who clearly overpowered the both of them. "Haha-ue, let's just let him be, please?"

She smiled. "Alright. This will only be beneficial to you anyway. Come, we have more to do before you return to your humans."

Tsukune nodded and stood up. "Haha-ue, some of the people in that village didn't feel like demons or humans, so what were they?"

"I had thought you didn't notice. Those people, your fiancée included were Ayashi."

"Ayashi?"

She gave him her usual smile. "Ayashi are also beyond humans. They are like other types of creatures that are from earth whereas demons are of another plane altogether."

So, Yuki-onna were Ayashi. More importantly, "We're from another plane?"

"I'll tell you more about it later, as the information is unnecessary for you right now."

* * *

><p>After a long period of waiting, the bus arrived. Tsukune got on and waved to Tou-san, Kaa-san, and Haha-ue, who were waving back from the front of the house. The bus slowly began to leave and then picked up speed. Tsukune pulled a book out from his bag and started to read, as he had nothing else to do for the duration of the trip. It was odd how he was accepted to Youkai Gakuen for free when he didn't even apply. His parents were fine with less of a drain on their wallets and Haha-ue openly encouraged that particular school, which Tsukune assumed meant that it had something to do with demons.<p>

_And that's fine, kid. My powers are at your disposal, so there's nothing to worry about._

Tsukune didn't know how much he could believe that, after all, he was stronger than the Koppa Tengu.

_Oi! You're stronger, but that woman already told you not to use your powers. But she doesn't control me. I only respect _you_ enough that I'd follow you._

The bus driver then spoke to him as the bus entered a long tunnel. **"You're going to be a student at Youkai Gakuen, right?"**

"Hai."

"**Then you should prepare yourself. Youkai Gakuen is a school where the students' instincts can freely rampage."**

Tsukune couldn't help but feel intrigued as the air _twisted_ and the bus left the tunnel. It stopped at a scarecrow-bus stop and the demon boy got off. The road was on a cliff that overlooked a large ocean and it wound along until it met the edge of a large, apparently gothic estate, which was the school, according to the pamphlet he'd gotten. Paying the bus no mind, Tsukune began to walk along the path to his new school.

"Heeey! Watch ouuuuut!"

Tsukune whipped around toward the voice-

_Hey, kid, watch out-_

-and was hit by a bike.

* * *

><p>Secondary AN: In hindsight, I just realized that I wrote a scene in which Tsukune overpowers another boy, pushes him down into the snow, and does what he wants with him before being stopped by concerned third party.

Go unintentional misinterpretations!


	4. Chapter 4

Tsukune was completely blindsided and tumbled forward. The bike and its rider flipped over his body and one of the gears snagged on his school blazer, pulling him along. The three tumbled wildly before finally coming to a stop meters down the road. They landed in a pile. Tsukune remembered hearing some of the boys back in middle school talking about anime in which a boy and girl would run into each other before landing in an embarrassing situation. Tsukune also landed in an embarrassing situation, but not in the same way his classmates had implied.

He'd landed first. He was followed by the bicycle. It was followed by the girl riding it. Her landing made one of the pedals dig into his stomach.

As one, the two groaned. "Owww."

Tsukue looked up through the spokes of the bike's front wheel and saw the face of a girl with pink hair.

"S-sorry!" She quickly pushed herself off of him before picking up the bike in one hand and setting it down.

Tsukune was pretty sure that girls didn't normally lift bikes with such ease. He noticed that she wore what seemed to be a combination between a rosary and a choker, which was her only real change to the school's uniform.

The girl continued. "Are you hurt?"

Tsukune picked up his bag and the items that had spilled from her bike's basket. "I'm alright, thank you. How are you?"

"I'm fine."

"You were riding kind of fast don't you think?"

"Well that's because-"

The bell rang, or rather it tolled.

"-We're running late." She finished. "Well, since we'll be late anyway, I'm Akashiya Moka. Please be my friend!"

"O-okay," Tsukune felt a little awkward, but thought she would be fine as a friend, since monsters were more durable than humans. "I'm Aono Tsukune. It's a pleasure to meet you."

With that, the two began to run.

* * *

><p>After the opening ceremony, Tsukune went to his assigned class, freshman class 3. He looked up as a blond woman whose hair looked like it spiked up into cat's ears walked into the classroom. She wrote her name on the board. "I am Nekonome Shizuka."<p>

_Grrrrrrrrr._ The Koppa Tengu seemed to dislike her.

She continued. "You should already know this, but this school is for Ayashi."

Tsukune understood why Haha-ue had advocated for this school now.

"Humans control most of the Earth, so in order for the Ayashi to survive, we need to coexist with them. That's the point of our school. In the spirit of that, you shouldn't let the other students know your true form."

A nearby student who looked like a delinquent then spoke up. "Oi, Sensei, wouldn't it be better to eat up those puny humans, and in the case of the beautiful girls, to molest them?"

Tsukune grimaced at this. The other boy seemed to be saying that seriously. Well, there was no proof that he'd actually done anything like that, so as much as he disliked them, the other boy didn't have any action behind his words.

"Oh? That doesn't matter. There aren't any humans here."

Suddenly the door to the classroom slid open. "Sorry I'm late!" a familiar voice called out.

The girl he just met, Akashiya was actually later than him. He didn't know how that was possible, since they'd arrived for orientation at the same time. The other boys in his class made comments on how pretty she was and how lucky they all were to have her in their class.

"Oh! It's Tsukune! Isn't it great that we have the same homeroom?"

Tsukune couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm. "Um. Yes."

Suddenly the boys around him glared as if he'd done something wrong. It looked like even in a school for Ayashi, he wouldn't easily understand other students.

* * *

><p>As soon as class broke for lunch, Tsukune and Akashiya left the classroom to find the vending machines and explore the school. Or, rather, Akashiya led him around by the hand in her excitement. Tsukune still felt the irritated male gazes. He looked at his new friend. She <em>was<em> pretty, but that didn't matter because he was promised to Mizore, who he hadn't seen in years. Akashiya was also a little too warm for his liking.

_You know, kid, I've never seen this girl of yours._

It seemed that Tsukune's Koppa Tengu had kept quiet earlier for some reason. He was going to ask why, but didn't want to seem like he was ignoring Akashiya.

As he was focusing inward, he didn't notice the boy from earlier in the classroom until he called out, "You're Akashiya Moka right? I'm Komiya Saizou! 'Sup?"

He – Komiya – grabbed Tsukune by the lapel of his blazer and turned to Akashiya. "By the way, why's a beautiful girl like you associating with a guy like this?"

Tsukune really didn't expect to be picked up on his first day of school – or at all, really. The demon boy wrenched the bigger boy's thumb from his uniform and he slid from his grasp, landing on his feet.

_In this case, isn't it best to assert your dominance early?_

Tsukune knew that he couldn't show off his powers because the chairman, an exorcist, according to Haha-ue, didn't want demons to kill the students, as horrible chaos would result.

Komiya smirked. It was a bit predatory. "You're stronger than you look."

That was all of the acknowledgement Tsukune got before Komiya turned back to Akashiya, who was looking at the large boy cautiously. "So, wouldn't someone like me be superior to that weakling?"

_So he still thinks he's stronger._

Komiya leaned in. "How about we go off somewhere and have some fun?"

Akashiya paled. "Sorry! I'm having fun with Tsukune right now!"

She grabbed the demon boy's hand and tugged him along, making him stumble initially before he matched her pace.

* * *

><p>They stopped in a stairwell.<p>

"That was a little scary wasn't it?" Akashiya seemed apologetic, though Tsukune couldn't think of a reason why.

"Akashiya," He remembered to be polite since she was his first friend, "why are you so friendly with me? You're using yobisute and everything."

She frowned. "W-was that rude of me?"

"Oh, no. I'm just not used to it."

"Okay." She smiled. "Well, since I'm using yobisute, why don't you do it too?"

"A-alright." Tsukune flushed, still feeling a bit awkward. "Moka…san." It seemed that he couldn't forgo honorifics completely. Akashiy – Moka, Tsukune corrected himself, seemed comfortable with him keeping the 'san'.

After that, they ended up walking into the courtyard before finally finding a vending machine. Moka bought tomato juice and Tsukune, wanting to try something new, bought some as well. It was a bit salty but had its own type of sweetness that he was unused to.

From there, the two friends went to check out the dorms, which just like the rest of the estate, had character. If Tsukune was honest with himself, it looked like a scene from a horror novel, with tombstones all around the yard. It was kind of cool. As Moka put it, it was "full of dignity and character."

"Don't you think so, Tsukune?"

He nodded.

* * *

><p>The next day, Tsukune woke up in his dorm room. It was surprisingly high quality. There was a bathroom and even a fridge. He didn't feel hungry, so he skipped breakfast and left for school.<p>

Along the way, he heard someone calling him. "Hey. Wait up."

Tsukune turned to face the voice and was then held up by his uniform by Komiya, this time by his tie.

_I told you to demonstrate your superiority. If you did, then this wouldn't have happened._

"Oh. Good morning, Komiya-kun. Is this just how you greet people?" Tsukune felt more comfortable dealing with fellow males even if it was some form of conflict.

"Shut up! You had a lot of fun with Akashiya Moka yesterday didn't you? I'll kick your ass!"

Tsukune supposed that the other boy really liked Aka-Moka, he corrected himself.

"What's your true form?"

"It's against the rules for me to tell you that, Komiya-kun." Tsukune realized that it was a bit weird to be getting used to being held up by his clothing.

Komiya growled angrily before the bell sounded. Apparently frustrated, he dropped the smaller boy and then walked off.

Tsukune sighed. "Now I'm late."

* * *

><p>Tsukune and Moka talked after class before Tsukune excused himself in order to use the bathroom. The two friends decided to meet outside the dormitories. To Tsukune's poor luck, a student, a djinni, he'd heard, accidentally burned down most of the stalls, leading to there being a line. Due to this, he took a few minutes more than he'd expected.<p>

Tsukune rushed off to the dorms, hoping that his being late wouldn't mean the loss of a friend.

Upon arriving, he heard a short scream in a familiar voice. He broke into a run toward the voice.

Tsukune came to a stop when he saw that his new friend was being pressed against one of the tombstones by a large overly muscled creature. "What are you doing?"

"Tsukune!"

"Tche!" Though it was deeper in tone and had more of a growling undertone to it, the voice was clearly Komiya's. "Whatever. I did say I'd kick your ass." He turned and walked toward Tsukune. His hand lashed out and he swatted the smaller boy aside.

Tsukune crashed through one of the tombstones. It kind of hurt.

_Let's go already, kid!_

Tsukune picked himself up from the ground. He felt a bit irritated at the aggressive boy. "Under the terms of our contract, come forth. Koppa Tengu!" It felt a bit unnecessary to say all of that, but it was what Haha-ue taught him. He felt the small pull of energy on his body and the area around him and his ally appeared in a burst of light.

Both Komiya and Moka seemed shocked at the sudden turn of events. It seemed that they really didn't expect to see a demon summoning.

Tsukune ran toward Komiya and decided that he didn't want to draw any more attention from the chairman than he already had. The Koppa Tengu shrugged. **Tarukaja.** After that, he patiently floated.

Komiya threw a punch at that point. Instinctively, Tsukune responded with an inner forearm block and chambered his other fist. Tsukune's problem here was that he was limiting his abilities to a human level even if his demon was strengthening him with magic. Because of that, when he threw his counter strike, Komiya's other hand swiped at him. If they were moving at the same speed, then Tsukune would have hit first by simple geometry, but instead, they hit at the same time. Komiya stumbled back, his lungs emptied. Tsukune rolled along the ground. Moka rushed to help him. She pulled him up and he nodded his thanks before turning to face the monstrous boy.

The other student was clutching at his right side; the demon boy's deflected punch having caused more damage than expected. Tsukune watched Komiya carefully. Tsukune came to a realization at this point: His fighting style was only defensive. He'd only practiced blocking and counterattacking. He slowly walked forward and made sure to keep his arms up just in case he had to block another strike.

The larger boy lashed out with a wild swipe.

Using the strength granted by his ally's spell, Tsukune jumped it. He threw a punch at Komiya's face with as much force as he could before landing. "Ha!"

There was a loud cracking sound and Tsukune landed roughly, his hand bleeding, while Komiya brought his large clawed hands to his face. Tsukune looked down at his fist. It ached. After looking closer, he found that his index and middle fingers were broken. It seemed that even though he was a demon using a human form, he had more human durability while transformed. He should have hit with his first knuckles insead of the second ones.

With a look of pain, Komiya brought his hands down. His nose was broken and two of his teeth had been knocked out. "You..!" He rushed toward Tsukune.

Komiya's claw came down toward his head.

Tsukune caught it with a rising block at the other boy's wrist. A second strike came from the side. The demon boy turned to try to block it with his other arm, but felt something grab him from behind.

Moka pulled him out of the way with a single hand and Komiya missed. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yes." Tsukune didn't want the fight to last much longer. His fingers were still broken.

The Koppa Tengu bolstered the young demon's strength again. **Tarukaja.**

Komiya seemed to realize that he was at a disadvantage. Tsukune noted that he was strong enough to hurt the other boy and Moka was most likely stronger than him, if unwilling to use that strength violently. "Tch! I'll let you off for now."

The larger boy fled. Tsukune didn't chase him and instead called back the Koppa Tengu, feeling its presence rest back inside of him. _This atmosphere's pretty crazy. You should check it out in demon form._

Moka turned to the demon boy. "Do you want to go to the nurse? It looks like you broke something." She looked like she was really curious about what had just happened.

"Yes. Let's do that." Tsukune released his fist and felt the bones rub together unpleasantly.

This was not what he'd expected when he started making friends.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: My apologies in taking so long to finish writing this. I had some projects to finish and my computer had a bunch of problems that required erasing everything and starting over. At any rate, this chapter might seem a bit disjointed, but bear with me. I tried to follow the manga for the majority of the chapter, but the chapters will start to differ from it more as things are hopefully made more clear. Please look forward to it.

* * *

><p>Tsukune woke in his dorm room. He looked at his hand. He stayed in his true form over night and an injury like that healed just in time for school.<p>

After finishing his morning routine, he met up with Moka outside of the dorms. She looked determined about something. They exchanged greetings and Tsukune noticed that the other students were shying away from them. He was used to it, so besides noticing that it happened, he felt indifferent.

The two friends walked to school as Moka shared what she was thinking. "I get it. Your true form's a devil summoner, right?"

"Huh? Oh, that's right. Since you know my true form already, what's yours?" Tsukune felt bad about lying to his first friend, but he really didn't want the dean to come down on his head. It seemed that even monsters did their best to avoid dealing with demons.

"Since, were friends, I can tell you. Even though I look like this, I'm actually a vampire."

The vampires that Tsukune had heard about, at least the ones that hadn't become demons, were much more arrogant, vain, and violent than his new friend was. Perhaps the general description didn't apply to all vampires.

* * *

><p>The school day was fairly uneventful and Komiya didn't come to school, so the other students were talking and spreading stories about it. Some of them even said that Tsukune had killed him and devoured him whole!<p>

Aside from that, when Tsukne left the classroom for lunch, he came across a blue haired girl that seemed to be having some sort of trouble.

"H-help… I suddenly started to feel ill…"

Tsukune, possessed by sympathy, introduced himself before helping her up. He supported her as they walked to the nurse's office.

"Thank you." She spoke to him as they walked. "I've always had a weak body. My chest just starts hurting all of the sudden and…" She trailed off before continuing, "So please hold me more tightly." The girl then pressed herself against Tsukune's side.

Tsukune felt her chest press against him. He flushed and looked away from her.

"Ne, Tsukune-kun."

He turned to her. "Um, yes?"

"I'm Kurono Kurumu. Please be a good friend to me, okay?"

Tsukune felt a pressure in his head and everything went fuzzy.

_Hey, kid! Pay attention! She's messing wi-_

The voice was cut off.

Kurono's eyes were so clear and beautiful…

"Hey, Tsukune!" Moka happened across them.

Tsukune felt odd. He couldn't focus on her at all. Whenever he brought his will forward, it seemed to slip away. He felt his mouth move. "Sorry, but I'm spending time with Kurumu-chan right now…" Tsukune's arms embraced the smaller girl beside him. He knew that he shouldn't be holding girls like that, but his body wouldn't respond.

"H-huh?" Moka stared at him, but she seemed so blurry… "Tsukune, are you okay?"

Tsukune felt his body lead Kurono away, toward the infirmary.

* * *

><p>Tsukune walked aroung the school, trying to find Moka, wishing to apologize.<p>

_I'm not sure what happened earlier. You should definitely avoid that strange girl from now on._

He found her talking with Kurono in the hallway, surrounded by gossiping students.

"…I'll show you I'm better than you by stealing Aono Tsukune from you!"

Moka panicked and looked shocked at the direction of their conversation. "W-wait! What does Tsukune have to do with this?"

Tsukune called out to his first friend. "Moka-san, I'm sorry about earlier."

"Oh, Tsukune. What happ-"

"Tsukune-kun! Thank you so much for earlier." Kurono ran to him and embraced him.

_Don't even look at her, kid!_

Tsukune carefully kept his gaze on Moka. "I didn't explain myself well. I was taking Kurono-san to the infirmary because she wasn't feeling well, and something odd happened to me." It was at this moment that Kurono pressed herself against him noticeably.

Tsukune felt his face flush. He turned to the girl. "Um, K-Kurono-san, could you step-"

The small girl's eyes glittered and Tsukune lost his words.

_I warned you! Focus!_

Tsukune tried to keep his mind on anything but the girl that was touching him, but his mind felt slippery.

"Tsukune, get away from her. She's not really your friend."

Tsukune felt his mouth move. "Well, it's not like you'd know anything about having real friends, would you?"

Tsukune gaped internally at the words that left his mouth.

Moka's eyes welled with tears and she ran away crying.

* * *

><p>Tsukune finally found himself able to control his body. He stared into his hands sadly. He couldn't believe that he had said something so cruel.<p>

Kurono was on one of the beds in the infirmary, cheering silently. She turned to him, "Tsukune-kun, you're sad, aren't you? Sorry… I'll make it up to you." She embraced him, pressing his face into her breasts.

Tsukune's thoughts stopped, though not from whatever the girl was doing to his mind before.

Kurono pushed him down and leaned in to kiss him.

Tsukune was still stunned, having never been close to a girl his age like that. _Uh, kid, I don't know all that much about the hearts of children, but since you're so serious about that Mizore girl, shouldn't you do something?_

Mizore.

Tsukune gently pushed Kurono away by her shoulders. "I'm sorry, but there's someone I don't want to betray."

Her mood suddenly worsening, the smaller girl shoved him to the bed, showing strength that belied her small frame. "Why…do you hate me that much? Is _she_ so much better than me? Even after I embarrassed myself just to…" Her youki spiked, making Tsukune realize just how dangerous she actually was. Large bat-like wings burst from her back, a spaded tail sprouted from her body, and her ears became pointed. "Now I'm pissed!"

Her nails lengthened into claws.

Moka burst through the door, shouting. "Stop!" She ran to Kurono and shoved her.

Kurono was sent flying out of the window.

"Run while there's still time!" Moka warned.

"What's going on?"

"She's a succubus. She was using her powers to enslave you."

That made the Koppa-tengu's warnings make a lot of sense. It looked like the demon could sense the girl's powers-

"To think that you'd throw me that far… What type of monster are you?" Kurono seemed both extremely angry and a bit shocked as she floated in the air. "Come down here so that I can kill you both!"

The two friends followed the girl's demands and went down to the school's ground level and into the surrounding forest.

"Tsukune, please pull off my rosary."

"Huh? Why?"

Kurono swooped down, her claws flashed and cut cleanly through some surrounding trees.

Tsukune and Moka took shelter behind a tree that wasn't cut. Tsukune looked at the damaged trees warily. "Are they seriously that sharp?"

"Hurry!" Moka shouted, "Or we'll be killed!"

Tsukune nodded. "Al-alright." He tugged. The chain didn't break. He tugged again. It was possibly the worst thing to have happen. Maybe he should summon the Koppa-tengu and have him take down-

_Nah, that won't work. I'm too weak to actually take her down. Of course, you can't fly so we're stuck at her mercy._

Well, that blew that idea.

"All you have is strength!" Kurono shouted at them. "Just give up and die."

Moka turned her body and placed herself in front of Tsukune in order to shield him from the charging monster girl.

"M-Moka-san?" Tsukune stared at his first friend.

"You protected me last time, so I'll protect you this time. It's what friends do, right?"

Tsukune froze. This was what it felt like to have a true friend! As Kurono came closer, Tsukune desperately tugged at the rosary one last time.

It snapped off of the chain and the section of the forest was filled with power that had the taste of pandemonium. Bloodlust filled youki spread into the air as Moka changed. Her pink hair paled to white, her eyes became red and cat-like, ad her fangs lengthened.

Kurono seemed intimidated, but did not back down. "I can't lose to you! We succubi seek a destined one out of the men we take. To keep our small species alive, we choose only one man out of all othe the others! I can't let you get in the way of that, Akashiya Moka!"

Moka's attitude had changed completely. "Since I'm apparently in your way, you'll bare your fangs at the likes of me? You should," Her youki sharpened, overpowering the copse with bloodlust. "Know your place!"

Kurono panicked and charged at the vampire, cutting at her with sharp talons.

Moka dodged easily, faster than Tsukune could see and grabbed the smaller girl's tail. She slammed her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her. "That was too straight forward. Am I too difficult for you? Perhaps I should tear off your tail and wings so you don't bother me again, you naïve little girl."

There was the violence and arrogance that Tsukune had heard about.

Kurono started to cry. "N-no…!" The fear on her face reminded Tsukune of Kyou-chan.

Tsukune rushed in between the two girls. "Moka-san, stop." For half a second, he felt the vampire's bloodlust directed at him.

"Didn't this woman attack your mind and try to kill you? Move."

"Even so," Tsukune made sure to look right back at his friend. "She doesn't seem like a bad person to me. Even if you wanted to pay her back, maiming her is too far."

Tsukune remembered the demon on the train and all of the people it tore apart.

Moka sighed. "Fine. This wasn't entertaining anyway." She snatched the rosary from him and reattached it to her choker, resealing her power and causing her to revert to her weaker form.

* * *

><p>"Hello Tsukune-kun!" Kurono was smiling brightly at him.<p>

The demon boy made sure to avoid her eyes as he spoke to her. "How are you, Kurono-san?"

"I was looking for you. I just wanted to apologize for the way I treated you earlier." She actually looked embarrassed at this.

Tsukune smiled a bit sheepishly. "Well, as long as we're all alright…"

"Tsukune!" Moka came running to the two of them. She glared at Kurono. "What're you doing here?"

The smaller girl smiled. "I'm sorry about what happened."

"Why should we trust you?" Moka was, as would be expected a bit miffed about the whole attempted murder thing.

"Because I wouldn't hurt Tsukune-kun. He's my hero!" The smaller girl smiled brightly and hugged the confused demon boy.

Tsukune didn't know where his high school life would go from there, but he seemed to have acquired a new friend.

The Koppa Tengu spoke up. _Look kid, I don't really trust this girl, but as always I'll support you. Don't be afraid to rely on me even though you have more allies now._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Iiiiit's been a long time. Shouldn't have left you/ without a new chap to read through./ Thinkin' 'bout all the dull stuff you read too?/ Well I'm late,/ sorry I kept you.

* * *

><p>Tsukune made a call home. He'd neglected to make any calls so far, so he hoped that his family wasn't too worried. If Haha-ue was there, she would probably already know everything, but Kaa-san and Tou-san became concerned so easily.<p>

The phone rang for a few moments before being picked up. "Hello?"

"Mom? It's Tsukune. I'm just calling to let you know how Youkai Gakuen is going."

Aono Kasumi responded warmly. "It's good to hear from you, Tsukune. How has the transition to a boarding school gone?"

Tsukune smiled. "The dorms are comfortable and the school is actually really fancy. More importantly, I made friends!"

"Congratulations Tsukune!" Tsukune could hear a boisterous female voice in the background on the line. "Oh, Kyouko-chan wants to talk to you. Here you go."

The demon boy froze in a slight panic before he heard rustling as the phone changed hands. Kyou-chan then spoke up. "Hi Tsukki!"

"How are you Kyou-chan?"

"I'm fine." Tsukune could hear the smile in her voice. "Have you had the chance to finally get rid of that shyness and make some friends?"

"Yeah. How about you? Are you still so bossy with yours?"

Kyou-chan laughed.

* * *

><p>The next day, after parting with Moka and Kurumu, Tsukune went for a walk and saw a young man, who was definitely older than him, practicing karate by one of the trails in the forest. He could tell that the man's form was practically flawless. Tsukune sat against a tree and watched as he finished his form.<p>

"Yo!" The young man turned to him and called, "Do you like karate?"

Tsukune nodded.

"Well, then do you know any?"

"I… know a bit." Before Tsukune knew what he was doing, he parried a straight punch from the larger boy and his fist was already chambered. "W-what are you doing?!"

Ignoring that, the other boy spoke. "Your reflexes are pretty good. You want to join my Karate club?"

"I'm not sure; you _did_ just punch at me after all." Tsukune's fist was loosed before it was parried by the taller boy.

"Well, I'm asking as the club captain." A rising block and another straight.

The two separated. "Well," Tsukune said, "I haven't heard about clubs until today. Wouldn't it be better to decide after I see which clubs are available?"

He thought to himself for a moment before responding. "Yes, that'll work. You'll see that the Karate club is the best choice at the club fair."

"The club fair?"

The apparently older student nodded. "You'll see it tomorrow, so make sure to see my club's display."

Tsukune couldn't help but like the serious young man, so he nodded. "I am Aono Tsukune. I'm in first year. It's nice to meet you."

The other boy smiled. "I'm Miyamoto Haiji. I'm in second year."

"I'll be in your care, Sempai."

The two continued what had become a sparring match.

Tsukune decided not to use his powers to heal the bruises that he received. The fight was fun and he felt proud of the experience.

* * *

><p>The next day, Tsukune and Moka decided to go to the job fair and pick a club that they both liked. Moka was curious about Tsukune's bruises, but let it go when he smiled about them. They went to displays and booths from the photography, chemistry, and acupuncture clubs among others.<p>

Most of the boys were excited about the swimming club because of all of the swimsuit clad girls, but for some reason Moka was really against joining. Tsukune was interested if only because he couldn't swim although he'd been told that he didn't need to because he could freeze the water. When the two finally got to the karate club's display, it was overcrowded with students and it was clearly too late to join. Tsukune was disappointed at the turn of events, but there wasn't much that could be done about it.

By the end of the club fair, the two friends were only able to join the Newspaper club. Tsukune could only hope to visit the karate club later on, it seemed.

* * *

><p>"Well, since you're all here, let's begin our first meeting!" As usual, Nekonome-sensei was ecstatic.<p>

Tsukune was happy that he could join a club with his two friends who sat in the desks beside his. Kurumu must have had the same amount of luck in finding a club. He wondered why there didn't seem to be a club president, since there was usually a senior that taught the underclassmen the ropes.

Nekonome-sensei interrupted his thoughts. "Oh, and here he is." Another student walked into the classroom. "This is the club president."

The young man smiled confidently. His dark hair was held back by a hair band. He wore his uniform casually and was carrying two bouquets of roses. "Hey. Sorry I'm late. I'm Morioka Gin'ei. You can call me Gin." He smiled flirtatiously at Moka and Kurumu but it didn't detract from his charm. He handed the two girls the flowers. "Nekonome-sensei told me all about you! What beautiful new club members!"

Tsukune couldn't help but sigh at the older boy's antics.

Nekonome-sensei ignored the club president. "Just ask him if you have any questions about the club, okay? I have a staff meeting to get to, so Gin-kun, go ahead."

He nodded. "Right. Just leave it to me."

Both of Tsukune's friends seemed a bit uncomfortable.

"Tsukune," Kurumu murmured, "I'm not too good with flirty guys…"

Gin went up to the teacher's desk and spoke in a sober tone that was a complete 180 from his earlier flirtatiousness. "The goal of our club is to publish the school newspaper. This means that most of the club activities will be reporting on different school events. Before that, we need to put up posters for the club."

Everyone agreed to it and Gin told the girls to put up the posters in the classroom and for Tsukune to put them up outside.

Tsukune took a careful look at the poster and tilted his head. He could not understand why Nekonome-sensei was on it posing like some sort of idol.

"Sempai, is this high enough?" Moka and Kurumu were on top of ladders, straining to lift the posters higher on the classroom wall.

"Just a bit higher." Gin then crouched down, looking up their skirts.

Tsukune froze. He walked up to Gin and crouched next to him. "W-what're you doing?!" he whispered fiercely.

Gin stood up immediately. "Tsukune-kun! What're ya doin'?!"

"Wha-?" Tsukune looked up at his sempai blankly.

"T-tsukune?!" The two girls above him looked down at him. They both looked incredibly embarrassed and a bit angry.

"Wait! I didn't-"

"Pervert!"

* * *

><p>The club meeting ended early due to the two girls storming off. Tsukune just wandered the campus after that. His cheeks stung from the slaps he got to either cheek. It was a bit irritating to have been misunderstood to such an extent. He growled a bit unintentionally before jerking in surprise. Acting like that wasn't normal.<p>

Tsukune stared up at the moon cautiously. It was incredibly close to being full. The demon boy took a deep breath and calmed himself before proceeding to his dorm.

_Hey kid, that shows that you should be a little more cautious._

Tsukune frowned, unable to argue.

* * *

><p>In the morning, Tsukune realized that it was a day of full moon. He could feel the boost in power before shoving it down with his own, creating a balance. The air itself felt overly thick. He could taste the energy in the air. It was odd for there to be so much magnetite around. Maybe it was due to the school being one for monsters instead of the normal human world.<p>

* * *

><p>The next day, Moka and Kurumu avoided him. He frowned. It felt just like middle and elementary school. He sighed. It was so lonely…<p>

"Hi Tsukune-kun!" It was Gin.

"Gin-sempai." Tsukune was actually glad to see him if only for someone to talk to.

"Club activities'll be outside today! Come with me, won'tcha?"

Gin led him behind a few of the school buildings. It was the equivalent of an alley. "Sempai, are we really having our activities here?"

Gin chuckled. "Don't worry, everyone'll be coming soon."

Tsukune cocked his head to the side.

"Look. There's a little window up there." The older boy pointed at one of the windows on the back of one of the buildings. "Why don'tcha take a peek?"

"Huh?" The demon boy was confused.

"It won't bite. Just do it."

Tsukune shrugged and climbed onto a box so that he could take a look when Gin spoke up again. "Y'know, about Moka-san, I really like her."

"Eh?" Tsukune turned to the other boy.

"She even has me falling for her."

Tsukune didn't know how to feel about that. Given what Gin had done so far, he didn't know if it was a good idea for Moka to get involved with him.

Gin gave him a confident grin. "I'm gonna make sure that she becomes my woman!"

"Why are you telling me thi-" Tsukune's question was cut off by the sound of chatter through the window, which he now noticed was open.

He turned and looked inside. It was…a…

Many girls were changing into gym uniforms.

The uniform skirt slid across skin with a whisper. The locker at the corner of the room squealed and was forced open by the dexterous hands of the girl using it. The blazer in the locker pressed against its cool side before sliding down onto its protruding hook, enveloping it in rough fabric. The fabric of the blazer strained against the hook holding it up; its desire for escape to the bottom of the locker cruelly denied by the cool firm metal. He couldn't help but stare for half a second. Tsukune was at a loss as his face flushed horribly.

*click*

Tsukune whipped his head to the source of the metallic sound. Gin was holding a digital camera. "Peeping is a criiiime, Tsukune-kun."

"S-Sempai, what do you think you're doing?!"

"Kyah! I heard a boy's voice just now!" A voice from the changing room caught their attention.

Gin grinned at him. "They'll find out you're here if you start yelling."

"-! You-"

"I'll do anything to get a woman in the palm of my hand. Ja na~!" Gin gave him a playful salute.

Tsukune swiped at the camera. "Hold o-"

With a burst of speed, Gin seemed to disappear.

"There he is!"

Tsukune slowly turned to the sound of the voice that came from the window. Girls were staring out of it and right at him. Tsukune almost cried in frustration. He knew that they wouldn't listen to him and he felt guilty for looking in the first place. Tsukune's mind had a very human fight or flight response to the situation. The young demon broke into a sprint.

The girls gave chase, wielding all sorts of impromptu weapons. Tsukune caught sight of mops, brooms, weights rakes, and even a whole bench that looked like it had once been bolted down.

Desperate enough to casually use the Koppa Tengu, he murmured. "Under the terms of our contract, come forth. Koppa Tengu!" He begged it to carry him.

_Got it!_

The demon grabbed his shoulders and flapped hard, the running start helping it to carry him up. They gained a lot of height and began to pick up speed.

The pair heard a whistling sound. Tsukune looked back and saw a bench. It was odd that a bench was so high up in the-

Did that girl actually throw the freaking thing?! It slammed into the Koppa Tengu, splitting the two up. Tsukune flailed as the Koppa Tengu tumbled in the air. Tsukune slammed into the ground, with the Koppa Tengu trapped with the bench before smashing into the ground in the distance.

* * *

><p>Tsukune was beaten and tied up. He could feel bruises, but they would heal quickly if he used his powers. Of course, he couldn't fully control himself if he did that, so he was most likely stuck in pain until the next day. Due to the full moon's power, he recalled the Koppa Tengu as soon as night started to fall.<p>

Moka walked up to him before being stopped by the still vengeful girls. "Tsukune! Is it true? About the peeping?"

"Moka-san! I didn't- I mean I looked, but it's a misunderstanding- I mean there's a long story behind-"

"It can't be, right? There's no way that you'd actually…?"

Tsukune looked to the side. "Uh… Well…"

She ran off, obviously disillusioned.

"Wait! I didn't mean to!"

* * *

><p>Tsukune sat in the abandoned building as the light of the full moon fell through the window. The girls were still angry even after Moka came by. Gin went to such an extent just because he thought that he was getting in the way between him and Moka. If he didn't do something, there was no telling what Gin might do if Moka rejected him. Tsukune kicked the door, but the hinges stayed on. Tsukune struggled with the rope binding his arms.<p>

He jerked in surprise as he heard a familiar voice. "Tsukune! Over here!"

He jumped to take a look and saw a flash of blue hair before he landed again. "Kurumu-san!"

"I saw what happened! You're innocent!"

"Thank you! The door's on the other side!"

Kurumu walked away. About half a minute later, there was a tearing sound. Tsukune turned to see that the door had been cut into kindling. Kurumu then walked up to him and cut the ropes binding him. "I saw Gin-sempai make you peep but no one believed me."

Tsukune couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Kurumu-san. If you weren't here, I don't know what I'd do."

She smiled brightly.

"Moka-san might be in danger if she's with him. Let's go make sure."

Kurumu nodded and they went toward the normal school buildings.

They both felt a sudden spike in youki on one of the roofs. The two friends hurried.

* * *

><p>"You'll be mine, Akashiya Moka!" A large wolf-man leaned over Moka as she tried to back away.<p>

Surprisingly in sync, Kurumu let Tsukune go in mid air, throwing him toward the large monster. The demon twisted and slammed a kick into the bigger creature's face.

"Gua!" He stumbled back.

At this point, Tsukune recognized the voice. "Gin-sempai, stop it!" He sank into his stance easily.

"You're gettin' in my way-!" The werewolf charged at him faster than the eye could see. Tsukune felt an impact to his already bruised face before he was sent flying into the already broken door to the rooftop.

"Agh…" The demon boy dragged himself from the rubble and stood back up. The werewolf vanished from view once again and, taking a guess, Tsukune twisted 45 degrees before punching straight.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh was muted by fur, but the two teens struck each other at the same time. Tsukune received a heavy blow to the cheek and Gin got a full fist to the snout.

They both caught themselves, Gin standing up straight and Tsukune landing in a crouch.

"Tsukune!" Moka and Kurumu tried to come to his aid, but stopped when Gin rushed him again.

Tsukune raised his guard to cover his face. He couldn't even see the coming blow. The young demon was sent back into the building, the larger boy's claws scraping under his eyes and across his nose.

Gin grinned at him. "In the light of the full moon, a werewolf is invincible!"

At this rate he definitely wouldn't be able to win against the upperclassman. Light of the moon… That phrase got his attention. Couldn't he also try and use the overflowing moon? He let the energy from the moon fill his right arm and desperately held the rest of it in his core. It felt like his arm was freezing. It wasn't the normal comfortable cold either. It ached. Tsukune looked at his arm, and there was snow gently falling around it in a helical pattern. He ran to his sempai, trying to balance the amount of demonic power surging into it. He could barely hold the rest of the energy from spreading into his whole body. The energy flooded his leg.

Gin jumped backwards.

It wasn't nearly fast enough. Pushing with his enhanced leg, Tsukune took another step, deep into his upperclassman's stance.

The werewolf raised his arms to ward off the coming blow. In response, the demon boy forced his arms upward at the elbow using his forearms, shifting his guard while he chambered his right arm.

Tsukune twisted and let his empowered arm fly. It went under the werewolf's guard and slammed into his solar plexus.

"Agh-!" Gin went flying, unable to balance himself against the force of the strike. He shot into the roof's railing and flipped over it before falling. "Ahhhh!"

Tsukune panicked. "Sempai!" He couldn't have killed someone that simply. Maybe he shouldn't have tried something so risky. He rushed to the edge of the roof. Gin was passed out on the ground, but he wasn't bleeding. Calming, Tsukune noticed that the right side of his body was soaked. He looked at his arm. The snow had pressed his uniform against his skin and thawed.

Tsukune pushed the energy in his arm down and back into his core. It ached and felt like his arm was falling off. "-!" He shook with the effort and eventually, the power was suppressed. He panted and his two friends rushed up to him.

Moka spoke first. "Tsukune, are you okay?"

"Nn… Yes, I really- did it get darker?"

Kurumu answered him. "Well, the moon got covered by some clouds, so it's probably that. Tsukune, what exactly was that?"

"Uh…" Tsukune really didn't think that fight through. He didn't really think about how he would explain using the power of demons. Well, honesty would be best, he supposed. "Well, I used-"

"I didn't know that devil summoners could use their powers like that!" And Moka saved him a difficult explanation by being completely misled.

"It's…because the powers of demons are heightened during the full moon." Tsukune hastily explained, not quite lying.

* * *

><p>Gin scratched the back of his head. "Aah, sorry 'bout yesterday. When the full moon waxes I get a little wild."<p>

"I know what you mean." Tsukune couldn't help but get along with a more calm Gin. Despite the framing for peeping, suffering from the light of the moon was something that he understood too well. "It's fine."

Gin even helped to write and edit the next edition of the newspaper, which clearly exonerated Tsukune of perceived crimes. He was a pretty nice guy when he wasn't hitting on girls.

It was nice to work on a project together with his first friends, and Tsukune would treasure that experience for the rest of his life. He wondered if friendship could be even more wonderful than this. It was like his elementary and middle school dreams had come true. Before this, he'd never been able to make friends.

* * *

><p>The next week was full of tests and every student was focused on studying and their placement in the school. Nothing of interest really happened during that week.<p> 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own neither Rosario + Vampire nor Megami Tensei. If I did, why would I write fanfiction for them?

A/N: This was too short. I'm going to be working harder on this after this chapter. Please look forward to it.

* * *

><p>Exam results were being posted that day. As could be expected, he was in the middle of the upper half at 65th place. He instinctively knew mathematics, but his work on literature wasn't beyond average. Moka did very well, and was very close to the top position. She was in 13th place.<p>

The demon turned to her. "Congratulations. Good job." He smiled. It was great that she was doing well.

"Thanks!" She also smiled. The two of them walked back to their class, when they heard a growl.

"Hey, the hell'd you just do to me?!" A large boy was looming over a smaller girl, who was wearing the normal uniform for the most part, but the most obvious difference was the large, pointed witch's hat. His arms were raised as if to claw her or crush her.

"Stop!" Moka ran in and stood between the two students.

Tsukune rushed after his friend. "Moka-san?"

Given Moka's reputation on the school grounds, the conflict drew a crowd. The boy turned into a more human-like form and hissed in irritation.

Seeing that no blood would be shed, the other students' attention was drawn elsewhere.

The three students left without any further issue.

* * *

><p>The three rested in the commissary. The young girl spoke up, her voice full of joy and innocent affection. "Thank you sooo much! You really saved me! I'm Sendou Yukari."<p>

Tsukune definitely remembered the name. He'd seen it recently earlier… Was it on the ranking board?

Moka responded with surprise. "I heard that you're in the same grade as us and you're only 11! And in first place too! You're really smart, Yukari-chan!"

That was where he'd seen the name. The young girl was in first place. To be tackling high school level work at such a young age was more the mark of genius than just 'smart', wasn't it?

Yukari flushed lightly.

"And," Moka continued, "Your outfit's really cute."

The small girl became flustered and overwhelmed by the compliments. "Ah, no-I mean… Cute is a bit…" She waved her hands as if to ward off Moka's words. "You're the one who's cool and pretty and sweet, Moka-san. Actually, I think I…" She mumbled just loudly enough to be heard, though it most likely wasn't intentional. "I, I _love_ you, Moka-san!" She leapt into the older girl's arms like the protagonist of a yuri manga.

Tsukune wondered for a second when he'd been introduced to that type of thing, yuri manga. It wasn't really one of his interests. Maybe it was a classmate in middle school?

"Every time I saw you across the hall, I fell a little more in love with you. But when you save me, you were so cool. That was when my heart decided. Therefore, please! Go out with me!"

"Wha-?" Moka stared at the smaller girl.

"Is there something wrong with me?"

"Uh, umm, well, as a friend…"

"Yaaay!" Yukari re-hugged her.

"So, Moka-san's like _that_…" Tsukune's face flushed.

Moka looked embarrassed as she turned to look at him. "W-what?"

* * *

><p>Yukari began following Moka everywhere.<p>

There was even one occasion…

Yukari's hands slid up Moka's body to her breasts. "Wow! Moka-san's chest is even bigger than it looks!" She started to grope the older girl. "Wow~! So soft~! It's like a dream!"

"S-Stop… It feels weird…"

Everyone in the hallway stared at the two girls, Moka who'd collapsed on the floor and Yukari who was still fondling her.

Tsukune felt his cheecks flush in embarrassment, but spoke up anyway. "Yukari-chan, you two probably shouldn't do such things in the halls." Their difference in age made it easier for him to speak to her less formally.

"Please don't obstruct me. I know all about you. Your athletic ability is average and you don't have any known hobbies or skills. Your grades are the only thing about you that's a bit above average. You and Moka-san are like the snapping turtle and the moon!"

Tsukune couldn't really argue with that claim, since he made sure to follow the rules and keep up a human guise and Moka easily outdid him on the academic front.

"I love Moka-san, so I don't want someone as average as you dragging her down. This is a declaration of war!" The small girl held up her magic wand and suddenly brooms leapt out of a nearby custodial closet to attack him.

Tsukune stumbled back and ducked under the first broom, getting hit by the second. He ran off to make sure that he didn't cause too much of a scene.

* * *

><p>After smashing the brooms and throwing them out, Tsukune went to club. Only Kurumu was there, Moka being dragged around by Yukari and Gin ostensibly picking up girls. He asked her about Yukari. He didn't get the chance to find much out about her, but it was likely that she wasn't just being a possessive kid, given how smart she was.<p>

She turned from the page she was editing. "Sendou Yukari? I've only heard rumors, but despite being a girl genius, it seems that she's still a selfish kid. She's always playing pranks on people and her class hates her."

"Is that it?" That didn't seem right somehow. Tsukune's thoughts stopped there when his fist flew into his nose, making him reel back. "Ugh…" How the heck was he supposed to parry or block when it was his own fist?!

"Tsukune?!"

His chair tipped and fell with him still in it. The Koppa Tengu laughed.

* * *

><p>"It moved on its own?!"<p>

It was then that Moka came in. "Sorry for being late! What's up Tsukune?"

She froze at what she saw.

Tsukune's hands were firmly gripping Kurumu's chest. He turned dark red and shook his head wildly. "N-no, I-"

His hands quickly and deftly dropped from her chest to the hem of her skirt and flipped it up.

Embarrassed tears rose to Kurumu's eyes. "Noooo!" She slapped him.

Tsukune felt his body came back under his control as loud laughter came from the window next to the classroom. He rushed to the window and looked for the source.

Yukari was sitting right under the window, laughing with a curse doll in her hand. When had she gotten hold of his hair? She looked up, saw him, and ran off.

Tsukune's stinging cheek made his irritation even worse. _You should teach her a lesson about bothering you, kid._ Tsukune was surprised to feel the urge to follow through on it, but immediately denied it. Harming a child wouldn't sit right with him. Something about it felt inherently wrong, though he couldn't think of why in that moment.

"Um, s-sorry." Kurumu apologized, unable to look at him.

Tsukune turned to see her before immediately looking away in embarrassment. "Y-you were just embarrassed, right?"

"Yeah, um…"

"Let's just let this drop. I'm sure that neither of us wants to bring this back up." She would still be his friend, right? Tsukune was a bit afraid to ask.

"You're right. Still, sorry."

They both looked up at the same time and Tsukune felt his cheeks twitch a bit. "It's fine."

Moka looked a bit uncomfortable at the moment between her two other friends. "I'll…go find Yukari and see if I can get her to apologize."

* * *

><p>Yukari stuck her tongue out at him. "I won't say I'm sorry!"<p>

Tsukune frowned. There was something about her behavior that was familiar. She didn't care at all about other peoples' opinions besides Moka's despite her reputation. Moka was the first person to be nice to her, most likely. "If you act like that…" Suddenly, it occurred to him. "Yukari-chan, you're lonely, aren't you?"

"What?" She stopped everything.

"I may be wrong, but is Moka-san your first friend?"

"Yes, so?!" It seemed like he'd accidentally hurt her feelings.

"Then she's really important to you, right?"

"Of course she is!" She frowned angrily.

"Then don't you think you shouldn't hurt her friends? Wouldn't that hurt her too?"

"What?"

"Moka-san is my first friend too. You know how it feels to finally have a friend, so why would you try to get rid of hers? That type of thing would only cause her pain, right?"

"A friend is…" Tsukune looked away, gathering his thoughts. Ever since he'd started making friends, he'd been able to have so much fun with everyone else, even if it was eating lunch together or talking about classes. Moka was always willing to share her kindness with everyone and always tried to do what was right. Kurumu honestly gave her affection to her friends and did her best to help them. Gin watched out for his club members even when it put him at a disadvantage. The aching silence that he'd become used to from human schools was gone. "A friend is just important to everyone else as they are to you.[REPHRASE]"

Tears rose to the girl's eyes. "I'm just trying to help Moka-san! If people like you are around her, it won't help her at all! No one should want low ability friends like you!" She looked down, as if trying to hide tears.

Tsukune looked down. It seemed that he wasn't able to tell the girl what he truly meant. If he'd had more experience with children, he wouldn't have made her cry.

A wash bin dropped onto his head with a _clang_.

"Got ya!"

_I told you kid. If you made an example of her then_-

Tsukune cut the koppa tengu off there. He'd already told him that he wouldn't do such a thing. All the same he felt irritation start building anew. "You…" He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "Yukari-chan, doing things like that won't help you-"

"Stop pitying me!" She stuck her tongue out and ran off.

Kurumu picked up the bin as Moka looked off in Yukari's direction. "Well, you really get the feeling that she's actually a witch. Well, if she's been being treated like the hated races usually are, then-"

Tsukune turned to her. "Hated races?"

"You don't know, Tsukune-kun?"

Tsukune shook his head.

"Well, it's hard to tell the difference between witches and humans right?"

He nodded. "Right."

Moka spoke up here. "In the past they were called boundary beings that connected the human and monster worlds, but now they're called half breeds and discriminated against."

Was that why Moka was being so nice to the young girl?

"Even in the human world," Moka continued, "there were witch hunts and stuff like that."

"You know, Tsukune," Kurumu noted, "You may have been right when you guessed that Moka was her first friend."

Tsukune frowned, thinking. "If she's being really emotional and most students wouldn't mind hurting her, then shouldn't we do something?"

The three of them looked at one another.

* * *

><p>Yukari was being cornered by the students that were bullying her earlier.<p>

It turned out that they were all lizardmen. One of them had the small girl pressed against a tree, his maw wide open to tear her flesh.

Moka was the closest, so she ran into the clearing. The bullies were caught off guard and she was able to get between them and Yukari. "Stop! Don't hurt Yukari-chan!"

"It's Akashiya Moka again. How irritating." The leader snapped his fingers and some of his classmates began moving toward the vampire.

The sound of flesh tearing accompanied by a small spray of blood stopped them. One of the lizard men dropped, his throat torn. Kurumu was standing in front of them, her claws extended. "Moka! Hurry and leave with Yukari-chan!"

The leader of the gang of lizardmen opened his mouth and snapped it shut at the two girls.

Yukari screamed and clutched at Moka. "Ahhh!"

Tsukune, who had run from the other side of the clearing, slammed his heel into the boy's reptilian snout. "Ha!" It seemed that flanking them was a good idea.

The reptilian teen stumbled backward.

There was a spike in energy and everyone in the clearing turned to see Moka's hair paling to silver. It seemed that Yukari had accidentally pulled off her rosary.

Tsukune looked on as his first friend shot into the thick of the bullies and the crowd was knocked into the air. Smoothly moving into a leap, the vampire twisted in midair gracefully, throwing several kicks.

The group of boys fell with wet _thwacks_.

Something about seeing them get their just desserts made Tsukune nearly smile. He quickly shook himself. That wasn't right. No matter how badly they'd acted before, he shouldn't feel happy at their demise.

_Hey, you should enjoy what you enjoy, kid._

Tsukune shook his head. That was _not_ advice that he wanted to take. What _couldn't_ he rationalize with that kind of logic? He felt a sensation from his demon that felt like it was rolling its eyes. Tsukune supposed that the mask on its head actually covered a face. He'd never thought about it and was lost in thought.

Yukari stared blankly at Moka, whose aura of bloodlust was still thick in the air.

The vampire approached her calmly. "Give me that." She took the rosary and reaffixed it. The intense pressure was cut off.

The small witch turned to the older students that had saved her. She started to hyperventilate a bit. "Why did you help me? Even after I was so mean and selfish!?"

Tsukune visibly shook himself, breaking out of his daydreams. He was a bit bewildered. "Why wouldn't we? You're Moka-san's friend, right?"

She nodded, breathing hard.

"Then why wouldn't we help you? Doesn't that make you our friend too?"

Tears came to the young girl's eyes and she started to cry.

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><p>Yukari joined the Newspaper Club, surprising her older classmates. Well, the real surprise was that she did so suddenly without telling anyone. "Tsukune-san, you're my friend, right? Then, won't you help me win Moka-san's heart?"<p>

Tsukune blinked, bemused.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: First, let me apologize for my previous lack of quality and length. Looking back on previous chapters makes me cringe. Also, please review.

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Megami Tensei or Rosario + Vampire.<p>

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><p>Tsukune had received a notice from the office of the headmaster. It notified him that he was expected to visit the headmaster before heading to his club meeting. It was a bit odd that the headmaster cared to know which club he was in, but it was likely that he simply looked it up in order to find him on the weekend.<p>

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><p>The headmaster was sitting hunched in an ornate chair, an inscrutable smile on his face. "Good afternoon, Aono Tsukune."<p>

"Hello, Sensei."

The smile didn't seem malicious, but it was off-putting. He started speaking without any preamble, so it didn't make much sense. "You're one of the few demon students, so I'm sure that you understand that some of the wilder demons, like certain earth spirits, tend to be angry with the human race."

"Um, okay?" What was his point?

"My point is that these sorts of demons are hazards to the human students here."

"Humans?!" But wasn't that-

"Yes, it's against the official rules of the academy," He waved his hand in casual dismissal. "But how can youkai learn to interact with humans without them? Anyway, your mother volunteered you for dealing with the wild demons on the campus."

Tsukune blinked in mute surprise. Why had she done something like that? She'd told him earlier to never use his true strength! On the other hand, he had broken that rule really soon after beginning the semester. Was this punishment for that? If it was, he'd have wondered how Haha-ue could have found out, legitimizing the punishment, but, knowing her, she would have used some method that she refused to explain as usual. "Then, I'll have to become a demon hunter or something?"

"Not hunting. It would be best to say that your job will be to placate the wild demons on campus."

It was a pretty ridiculous request in a way. How would he even find the time out of his normal schedule to go searching the grounds for angry demons?

"It's not necessary to go searching. Just go around the woods without disguising yourself and they'll find _you_."

"But why would demons that dislike humans be upset with _me_?" Tsukune couldn't help but ask.

"I've already answered that question. Now, there is a nozuchi on the campus, a being of the fields, who normally keeps the soil healthy, but she's started to attack students. I would like for you to take care of this as soon as possible. Do not kill."

"Well, what does a nozuchi look like?"

"Hm, you would probably consider her to be a two-legged ball of fur with an elephant's trunk. Well, you will probably recognize her fairly quickly."

Tsukune walked out of the headmaster's office and ended up wandering the campus. He'd never expected to get a sudden chore on campus, but he really didn't think it wise to disobey the headmaster or his mother. On top of that, it was still close to the newspaper's deadline.

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><p>It was always a pain when deadlines came around for the newspaper club. Tsukune would be forced to rewrite and edit his columns over and over until Gin was finally satisfied. Tsukune just wasn't good at expressing his point of view in print, and Gin told him so often enough, though not unkindly. It was worse that he now had to devote time to pacifying demons. He didn't know when he'd get the time with all of the work that he already had to do. He supposed that it was a well-deserved punishment for breaking his word, so he didn't have the right to complain.<p>

At that thought, he realized that he didn't have to keep his true form a secret from his friends. He looked down as his pen stopped moving. How would they react? If the very first interaction was based on a lie, wouldn't they reject him? After he'd finally made friends and fit in with his classmates, the thought of sinking back into solitude made him shiver.

"Tsukune, you've stopped writing. We have a deadline in two days," Gin took a sip from his coffee, "so you can daydream on your own time."

"Ah, sorry Senpai." Tsukune got back to work, rereading through Gin's edits and notes and fixing his errors.

"Gin-senpai, you should be doing work too instead of just sitting there and drinking coffee!" Moka frowned at him.

Yukari shrugged. "He's just letting it get to his head."

Then Nekonome-sensei came in with a plastic bag. "How's everyone doing? I brought some snacks!"

She set the bag on the worktable and the working students grabbed at the snacks. There were bottles of tea and a…

"Raw fish? Sensei, why-"

"Because fish is better raw, Tsukune-kun!" She gave her typical closed-eyed smile before turning to Kurumu and handing her an envelope. "Oh, and Kurumu-chan? This letter was outside the classroom."

She opened it and her face quickly passed between flushing deeply and turning pale. She frantically stuffed the contents back into the envelope.

Tsukune worried a bit. "Uh, Kurono-san, is everything okay?"

"Perfect!" Her voice was a bit higher-pitched. "I, uh... Ahahahaha! I forgot something that I needed to do, so I'll be taking off for a bit! S-sorry!" She dashed out of the room.

Tsukune looked around the room and saw that he wasn't the only one that found his friend's exit to be awkward.

They continued working for about an hour.

Tsukune looked at the clock in the classroom and realized that he only had a few hours left before he'd need to get rest for the next day. It would probably be best to start his new job. The sooner that he caught it, the sooner he would be able to get back to the newspaper without angering the headmaster. "Uh, looking at the time, I have something else to do too. Sorry. I'll make it up to you." He grabbed his bag and left quickly.

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><p>Tsukune let his icy core spread tendrils of cold power through his limbs and a gentle snowfall fell about his body. He began searching the school forest for the nozuchi. He walked slowly, casting his gaze left and right and opened his senses, trying to detect any demonic power.<p>

He wasn't having any luck with it.

He heard a rustling sound in a distant bush and a cry.

The demon boy approached slowly getting within two meters of the bush. He tensed. "Are you the nozuchi?" He called, making his voice carry.

"Wah!"

"Aaah!"

A pair of screams came from the bush and a pair of heads popped out, belonging to a young man and young woman. Feathers drifted from the bush.

The two stared at Tsukune.

Tsukune stared back.

It took a second before the demon boy realized exactly what he was seeing as he caught the tie hanging from the bush's edge and the sleeve of a uniform shirt poking out from under it. His eyes went wide and his face grew hot.

"U-um, I-I…"

The couple seemed to be at a loss for words.

Tsukune finally rediscovered his ability to speak. "I'm so sorry!" He couldn't help but turn and sprint away.

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><p>Tsukune didn't know how long he'd been running, but he suddenly came to a stop. He could sense demonic power heavy in the air.<p>

There was blood. It was splattered across several trees, painting their trunks and lower leaves. It dripped quietly into puddles.

He saw a young man's body, his leg was torn off and his skull dented horrifically so that the trunk of a tree was wedged into the hollow. He had a horrified, startled expression on his warped face.

There was a second body. A girl whose head was missing from her blood soaked neck was sitting in seiza. Her entrails had been blown out through her back, splattering against a tree. The fingers of her right hand had dug into the soil. The nails were bloody as well.

Tsukune couldn't help but freeze at the sight. Just seeing it made the headmaster's concerns sink in. He stepped on a plastic bag. He gave it a closer look. _Me. Ro. N. Pa-_

Suddenly, he heard a loud roar. It shook the trees and made him tense.

A tree crashed to the ground behind him and Tsukune whipped around just to catch sight of a mass of fur as it flew at him. "GROOAGH!"

"Gah!" Tsukune was sent flying and crashed through a tree.

He scrambled to his feet and saw a beast that perfectly matched the headmaster's description. The trunk trembled before pointing right at him.

Tsukune realized that it was actually a neck, when he saw the many razor sharp teeth inside as it roared. "GROOAAAAAAA!" It rushed him again.

**Bufu**.

To Tsukune's shock, the demon plowed right through the ice and rammed into him.

The demon boy prepared to hit another tree, but instead the Nozuchi shot its mouth at him, latching around his right side. The sharp teeth dug deep into his body, making him gasp. The Nozuchi thrashed him about, sending him careening into trees, the force making their bark slice into his arms and face.

Tsukune hissed in pain before being thrown through a tree. "Agh! Under the terms of our contract, come forth. Koppa Tengu!"

With a burst of wind and a flash, the young demon's ally appeared. It threw a combination of kicks at the charging monster only to be knocked into the air. "Nh…!"

Tsukune pulled himself to his feet and bade the Koppa Tengu assist him.

**Tarukaja.**

The demon boy charged at the large beast and shoved it into a tree, digging his feet into the ground as he pushed. "Ggh…" He felt his entire body shake with the force before being thrown off. The Koppa Tengu caught him and they retreated into the air.

With a spin, the Koppa Tengu threw him down at the large demon. Tsukune used the momentum to throw a vicious kick.

**Tarukaja.**

The Nozuchi slapped him aside with its head, sending him spinning into another tree. Tsukune felt blood drip down his forehead and arms. He exhaled sharply.

"It'd probably be best if you didn't throw yourself at it like a missile, kid." The Koppa Tengu pulled him out of the tree.

The Nozuchi rushed again.

Tsukune sank into a stance, focusing and chambering a fist.

**Tarukaja.**

"Sorya!" His fist slammed into the demon's body. His arm jerked.

"BUOOooooo…." The Nozuchi stiffened before slumping to the ground.

Tsukune couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfied retribution. He realized that he had a smile on his face and felt disgusted at himself. He would have been fine if it was satisfaction at preventing any more death, but he knew it wasn't something so noble. He'd enjoyed the violence, the chance to let loose with his full strength.

"Ah-!" The young demon's arm bent at the center of his forearm. "Ngh!" He clutched at it and felt the sharp edges of bone cut into the muscle. "Oww…" He turned to his ally. "Do you think that that counts for placation?"

The Koppa Tengu shrugged.

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><p>After a visit to the infirmary, Tsukune went to his dorm, a cast and bandages on one arm and a tight wrapping of gauze on the other. It seemed that the wounds were deep enough that it wouldn't heal in a day like his previous ones. More than that, they ached oddly, feeling like the demon's teeth were embedded in them, even the wounds that weren't due to its bite.<p>

Despite the wounds, Tsukune still went to class the next day and was called out to the headmaster's office almost immediately.

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><p>The headmaster folded his fingers as the young demon entered.<p>

Tsukune wondered if he did well in pacifying the demon.

"I called you here to ask why you exacerbated the situation with the nozuchi."

"Exacerbated?"

"Yes. Now she's running around and attacking every living thing that she finds. I've been keeping her away from the general areas of the campus, but I'm a busy man."

"But I knocked it out! Why would the problem have gotten worse?"

"Why would she not be angry that some child has randomly attacked her?"

Tsukune blinked, at a loss for words. "Attacked her? She attacked me from a hiding place."

"Your view of the situation doesn't matter to her. She's a goddess of the earth here at the academy. From her point of view, you are most likely a tenant that has raised his hand to the owner. That, and most goddesses wouldn't enjoy being struck by rude children."

"So, no matter what I do, I'm wrong?"

The headmaster shook his head. "You immediately fought her, which, in this case, was a mistake."

The demon boy stared. "Then I should have let her kill me?"

The headmaster sighed. "I've assumed too much of your ability with other demons. Your mother didn't prepare you for this, it seems. You need to negotiate with her and find a way to calm her without harming other students."

Tsukune could feel the weight of the teacher's disappointment in the atmosphere of the office. Of course, worse than that, was the feeling of his own. Why hadn't he at least tried to resolve the situation without violence? The thought of negotiation hadn't even entered his mind.

"I have work to do, so I would like you to leave." The headmaster dismissed him while bringing a pen to a pile of paperwork.

Tsukune nodded and left the office.

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><p>On his way back to his classes, he quietly summoned his Koppa Tengu ally. It stood at attention.<p>

"Sorry, but could you search for the nozuchi and let me know where it-" He paused, "I mean, _she_ is?"

"Sure thing, kid." With a flutter that disturbed the air, the demon flew into the sky, leaving a few crow's feathers to gently sink to the ground.

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><p>During lunch with Moka, Kurumu, and Yukari, he was asked about his wounds. It wasn't like he could have hidden a broken arm anyway, but it was really inconvenient that they were so resistant to his natural recovery.<p>

_Well, it _was _the first time you were wounded by a god, wasn't it?_

It was the first time that his ally had spoken to him from a distance, but it seemed that he was still searching for the goddess. Tsukune had to admit that its divinity may have been the reason. Still, he had to respond to the question. "Well, someone requested that I do a job for them, knowing my true form."

"Oh." Kurumu pursed her lips. "You were hurt fighting a demon, then?"

"Yeah. I messed up, but now I know how to do the job properly." He lowered his gaze. "I should be able to finish it before the next club meeting ends."

To his surprise, Kurumu suddenly looked away and both Yukari and Moka's expressions became irritated.

"Um, did something happen when I wasn't there?"

Yukari frowned. "Kurumu was being a typical person of low ability."

"Hey! I already apologized for suddenly leaving. There was nothing that I could do about it." What started with an affronted frown ended with a guilty clench of teeth and furrowing of Kurumu's brows.

Well, that didn't tell Tsukune anything about it. He turned to Moka, who began speaking before he could even ask for a better explanation. "Kurumu-chan didn't come back to the meeting. She doesn't have the excuse of fighting a demon."

That was uncharacteristically bitter.

"I already said that I didn't want to talk about it. Please just let it drop." Kurumu's response was tired, but just as hostile.

The tension was high enough that Tsukune wondered if he should wait until after the deadline before pursuing the nozuchi. The conversation died and everyone focused on finishing their lunch before time ran out.

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><p>After classes finally ended, the Newspaper Club went back to their classroom and began pulling out all of the materials that they needed and the unfinished copies of the newest issue out of a cabinet in the teacher's podium.<p>

To their surprise, the unfinished copies were missing. Gin, who had been pulling out all of the materials, paled, and Moka, Kurumu, and Tsukune looked over his shoulder into the cabinet to double check.

"Eww…" Everyone looked at Yukari. "All of the data's been erased and there's something slimy on the keyboard."

Kurumu stiffened. "Slimy…?" Suddenly her expression became a hard glare.

"I'm sorry," Her voice was oddly calm, almost cold. "But I need to take care of something."

Moka turned to her, an expression of disbelief on her face. "Kurumu-chan, you-"

"Oi. Kurumu, this had better be worth skipping out on work." Gin frowned as he pulled out a sheet of paper and began scrawling notes quickly.

"It is." Her voice was strong and lacking the guilt and shame that she'd shown before.

Gin sighed and waved her off as an okay, not even looking up from his frantic work.

Tsukune couldn't help but stare at her sudden change in attitude. "Kurono-san, what's wrong?"

She didn't speak, and simply left.

Everyone began working silently, desperately trying to finish all of their work in as little time as possible.

Tsukune was trying to recreate the feeling of his previous article without sounding too stiff, so he'd been rewriting the same phrase over and over, feverishly scribbling down ideas before scratching them out.

_Found her!_

Tsukune jerked in his seat. Normally his ally didn't interrupt his school activities. He wondered for a moment if he should just postpone his apology, but remembered the thrashed broken corpses that the goddess had made that last time. It also took a very long time for his ally to find the nozuchi, so waiting would make all of that effort a waste. He sighed and stood up. "Sorry, but I need to do something."

"Tche." Gin clicked his tongue and waved him off.

Moka stopped him. "Is it the job you were talking about? Can't it wait?"

"…I'll feel responsible if it goes poorly without me, so I'll have to get it done as soon as possible." If anyone died from his inaction, it would be like killing them himself, and he couldn't allow that. More corpses appearing would be too much for him. "Sorry, everyone. I should be done soon."

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><p>Following the Koppa Tengu's directions, Tsukune arrived at a beautiful clearing that had a small shrine at its center. There was a scent of fertility that didn't match the campus's atmosphere of slight decay due to the season regulation. The area felt… pure. The soil was beautifully dark and the grass was a vibrant green. It was clearly a place that was blessed.<p>

The young demon let his power flow through him and a bit of snow drifted through his vision.

"GRRRR…"

Tsukune stiffened as the goddess appeared before the shrine. He took a few steps back.

The nozuchi advanced, still growling with a fury that he couldn't comprehend.

The demon boy dropped into _dogeza_. "I'm truly sorry for what I've done." He made sure to use the most polite and humble words that he could.

The goddess stiffened for a moment. "GR?"

"If there is anything that I could do to make reparations for violating your hospitality, please let me know."

"GRAH." She approached until she was in touching distance.

Tsukune tensed when he felt her breath.

_Kid, I'm ready to defend you._

Just that was reassuring. He didn't know what to expect next.

The field goddess latched her mouth about his head, making him jerk in surprise. Surprisingly, it wasn't violent. Instead, it gave the feeling of a benevolent pat on the head.

"Wha?"

"NO. TRASH. STOP. REST." Her deep voice echoed in the empty clearing with an undertone of growling. It felt especially loud since she kept her mouth on his head.

His mind leapt back to the plastic bag that he'd stepped on right before his last encounter with her. "Then I have to stop all littering? I can't do it on my own."

"NO. TRASH." Her voice became more insistent and her teeth dug into his skin a bit.

"I can't do that on my own. If I take care of any that I see, will you calm down? Will it be enough if there're people that are doing their best to keep the ground clean?" That was probably the most that he could offer.

She made his head nod.

He sighed. "Then I'll do my best, so please stop attacking students."

"OR. ELSE." That inhuman rage wafted from her body for a split second.

Taking the threat, Tsukune nodded.

With that negotiated, the goddess let go of his head and vanished.

The demon boy's head felt oddly warm so he reached up and touched his scalp.

A goddess was a being revered for her might and greatness. A goddess was a being that was deemed worthy of worship and respect.

A goddess had drooled on his head.

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><p>Tsukune wandered back from his meeting with the divine only to meet something much more disgusting. A student that looked like a large slug crawled past him. He was bleeding with an anguished expression.<p>

Kurumu was walking after him, an expression of disgusted rage on her face. Something about the coldness in her expression stuck in his mind. "Don't you _ever_- Tsukune?"

"Ah. Hi." He gestured to the slug boy. "What's going on?"

She stared at the top of his head. "Uh… What happened to your-"

Tsukune blinked in confusion, noticing that she had a CD and several copies of the newspaper in her arms. "Was he the one that stole our stuff for the Newspaper Club? It looks like you're okay, though. I'm glad."

She nodded. "I wanted to keep this a secret, because I didn't want the club to be bothered with my business. What about you?"

"Oh, I had to finish that job that I'd mentioned." He took this chance to make a request. "Speaking of that, please put all of your garbage in the proper receptacles. The goddess here _really_ hates litter."

"A… goddess?" It wasn't the type of thing most people heard, even youkai.

"Yes. She made me promise to help keep the campus clean."

"Uh, okay." She looked at him with bemusement.

"Anyway, we need to get back to the others so that we can finish the paper on time."

She tugged on his sleeve. "Let's hurry. They're probably going to be madder if we get any later."

Tsukune nodded and followed her.

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><p>It took direct combat with a minor goddess, but she was finally shaken awake. It took a while, but given the location, she'd finally gathered enough strength to wake. More than that, she could feel the massive amount of magnetite in the air.<p>

Once she'd gained more power, she'd be free to turn her container inside out.


End file.
